Cold weather football classics: 'The Ice Bowl'

n this Dec. 31, 1967 file photo, players spill in all directions as a fumble occurs in the third period of the National Football League Championship game, known as "The Ice Bowl" between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, in Green Bay, Wisc.

Super Bowl XLVIII will be the NFL’s first venture into the cold for its marquee game. However, there have been several memorable cold-weather playoff games. For instance:

The Ice Bowl

Green Bay 21, Dallas 17

Dec. 31, 1967, at Lambeau Field, Green Bay

Temperature at kickoff: -15 degrees. Wind chill: -36 degrees

When the Cowboys arrived in Wisconsin the day before, they were greeted by temperatures in the 40s. So when Dan Reeves and roommate Walt Garrison awoke the next morning, they decided to take the short jaunt to a meeting room across their hotel courtyard without their coats.

Reeves said they took two steps outdoors and immediately retreated to get those coats.

Despite the cold and a frozen field exacerbated by a faulty underground heating system, Reeves was able to throw a halfback pass for a touchdown and the visiting Cowboys held a 17-14 lead late in the fourth quarter. With 4:50 remaining, however, Bart Starr led the Packers on a drive from their 32 that set them up first-and-goal on the Dallas 1.

Halfback Donny Anderson twice tried to reach the end zone but could not get any traction. He was barely able to grab Starr’s handoff before slipping to the turf on the second try. Only 16 seconds remained when Starr called the Packers’ final timeout and conferred with coach Vince Lombardi on the sidelines.

What transpired was history’s most famous quarterback sneak. Not wanting to risk another handoff, Starr — quarterbacks called the plays in those days — decided to keep the ball himself. He wedged his way into the end zone behind blocks by guard Jerry Kramer and center Ken Bowman on defensive tackle Jethro Pugh.

The winning touchdown thrust the Packers into a somewhat anticlimactic second Super Bowl, where they easily defeated Oakland. It also decided the iconic game to which all other cold-weather games are measured.